Contractor Tip Of The Month: Moving Forward in the Fog!

Moving Forward in the Fog!

Damian Lang

• In 1984, with $600 I borrowed from my brother to buy a truck, I started Lang Masonry Contractors. The business struggled in the mid 1990’s when we had some safety issues. We struggled to survive again in 2003 after the attacks of 9/11, and again in 2010 due to the great recession.
• In the late 1980’s, I had an accountant who talked me into investing all my cash reserves into old coal mines in West Virginia. These old mines produced methane gas and my accountant, along with his self-proclaimed gas expert friend, said we could mix the methane coming out of the ground with propane to make less expensive gas. Not only would we make a fortune selling the gas, he said, but I would save a ton in taxes with environmentally friendly Federal subsidies. I lost all my cash reserves, getting nothing in return but a damn good education about investing in something I knew nothing about.
• In the early 1990’s, I started a day care center. It was a disaster. I lost my tail and closed it three years later.
• In the late 1990’s, I started EZ Grout (now EZG Manufacturing). With the great recession still lingering in 2010, I had lost $900,000 over the previous 18 months. I then hired consultants to analyze the company and give me advice on turning it around. For the $30,000 I paid them, they advised me to close the company down as under the current financial condition, it was not a sustainable business. Thank goodness I didn’t listen and instead kept moving forward in the fog.
• In the early 2000’s, I bought a convenience store. After running it for ten years and losing money every year, I finally sold it at an even bigger loss.
• In the mid 2000’s, I started a steel erection company and ran it for several years. After losing $2.3 million, I closed the doors in 2014.
• In the mid 2000’s, I started an architectural precast fabrication company. After losing $400,000 over a two-year period, I closed it down.
• In the late 2000’s, due to the great recession, general contractors refused to hire high quality mason contractors, so I started Wolf Creek Contracting, a general contracting firm that would bid the total job to get the masonry portion. We then sub-contracted the remaining scope of work to other trades. The company struggled losing money four out of the first five years in business.
• In 2015, I started Malta Dynamics Safety Company, which hasn’t been profitable any of the last three years.
• Over the years, I have bought lots of real estate to use for my own businesses and as investment properties. Renters whose own businesses have closed or who have filed for bankruptcy have caused my investment companies to struggle at times.

Damian Lang is CEO at Lang Masonry Contractors, Wolf Creek Construction, Malta Dynamics, and EZG Manufacturing. To view the products and equipment his companies created to make jobsites more efficient, visit his websites at ezgmfg.com or maltadynamics.com. To receive his free e-newsletters or to speak with Damian on his management systems or products, email:dlang@watertownenterprises.com or call 740-749-3512.